Background: On June 27th 2016 the law that regulates sale and advertising of foods high in critical nutrients was implemented in Chile. This law regulates the processed food packaging labelling of foods high in calories, saturated fats, sugars and sodium. Objective: To determine 8-12 year old school children attitudes, from different socioeconomic levels (SEL) and nutritional status, toward the new food labelling law. Methods: A previously validated survey was applied, adding questions regarding the new logos to be added on the packaging of foods and beverages. A descriptive analysis of the variables being studied was conducted and differences in relation to the SEL and nutritional status were determined using the Chi2 test. Results: Statistically significant differences were not observed for gender or city. Regarding the new logos, 87.3% of the children from a medium to high SEL and 78.5% from low SEL indicated that they liked to be informed about the contents of food (p< 0.01). Fifty-three per cent from medium to high SEL and 48% from low SEL would stop buying the foods with logos. Fourteen per cent to 22% will continue to consume sweet biscuits, sugary drinks, chocolates and chips, without a difference in SEL. Children with a normal nutritional status and medium to high SEL placed more importance on logos high in calories, saturated fats and sodium, and children of low SEL on logos high in sugar. Overweight or obese children from medium to high SEL considered all four logos more important than children of low SEL. Discussion: These results will facilitate educational and social marketing support to improve the understanding, compliance and fulfillment of the law.

The analysis of the food environment is used to identify areas with gaps in the availability of healthy foods and can be used as a public policy assessment tool. In recent decades, Chile has implemented several strategies and regulations to improve food environments, with encouraging results. Little is known about the scope of these measures in socially vulnerable environments. This study is part of a project that seeks to build an integrated intervention model for healthy school environments in a vulnerable area of Santiago, Chile. The objective of this study was to evaluate the availability of healthy and unhealthy foods around schools and the relationship between it and socioeconomic determinants of the school community in the Chilean context. A cross-sectional study to measure the food environment of informal markets (street food), formal markets (stores), and institutions (schools) was conducted in and around 12 schools (100 m surrounding schools) in a vulnerable urban area of Santiago, Chile. A lack of healthy foods was observed, which was related to some socio-economic determinants and the multidimensional poverty was the most relevant. The diagnosis of food environments around schools can represent an important target for governments to implement policies focused at improving the availability of healthy foods.

The objective was to investigate the representations and beliefs among overweight and obese schoolchildren regarding consumption and health consequences of sugar-sweetened beverages. This was a qualitative hermeneutical study of cases using focus group information collection techniques. The study was conducted among overweight and obese schoolchildren aged 8 to 12 from rural and urban schools from Ñuble Province. These were associations between representations of sugar-sweetened beverage flavor and the pleasure it produced when consumed, especially at home and during the summer season. Children expressed knowing the consequences of excess consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and identified their parents as being primarily responsible for the consumption of these products. They revealed that leisure time, especially at home, encouraged sugar-sweetened beverage intake.

Introduction: Overweight and obesity are public health problems worldwide. Alcoholic beverages could increase total energy intake causing an increase in body weight. However, few authors have pointed out the association between this habit and excess weight in this population. The objective of this study was to determine the association between alcohol consumption and excess weight in university students from 10 Latin American countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: A cross-sectional and multicenter study was carried out with 4,539 university students enrolled in ten Latin American countries. To assess alcohol consumption, the question Do you consume alcoholic beverages? (1 portion 1 glass of 200 ml). Body mass index (BMI) kg/m 2 was determined from self-reported weight and height. To determine if excess weight was associated with alcohol consumption, a logistic regression analysis was used, adjusted for age, sex, year of study, socioeconomic level, physical activity, and smoking. Results: Among students with normal nutritional status, 59.6% did not consume alcohol, while among those with a BMI ≥25 kg/m 2 it was 55.1%. Students who consumed 2 or more servings of alcohol per day had a 2.18 times greater risk of being overweight (OR: 2.18 [95% CI: 1.26 to 3.77]), compared with those who did not consume alcohol. Conclusion: It was observed that those students who consumed more alcohol were more likely to be overweight.